Not a big Harry Potter fan, but I am a huge fan of Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files. Jim Butchers great series about a detective wizard would make an awesome mmo imho. There are currently board games out that would be a great starting place.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
More of a campaign setting, but Midnight. Think of it as Middle Earth if Sauron won. A dark god was thrown out of heaven, and wanting to get back in, he essentially conquered the world in order to leach all the magic out of it in the hopes of gaining the power to do so. Humans are oppressed by his church, which strictly regulates all magic and magic items. Dwarves are trapped underground, and elves are nearly extinct. Both races are killed on sight. There are magical obsidian mirrors throughout the land, and they require blood sacrifices of varying frequency. Souls of the dead cannot move on, causing them to sometimes inhabit the bodies of the dead and wander, seeking flesh to devour. Finally, the land is covered with a 'veil' which prevents any cleric from communicating with their god, and vice versa.
What I like most about the setting is that it's not about winning. You can't win. Izrador's power is absolute, and he will eventually root you out and kill you. The goal is to simply do as much good, spread as much hope as possible before that happens. I think it would make a fantastic MMO if done right.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
I just want the Shannara series by Terry Brooks to have a game. Doesn't even have to be an MMO, just give me some coop and let me roam, maybe join the Druids. Go talk to Allanon at the Hadeshorn or something.
The Riftwar Saga as mentioned by kaeoltae is a great idea and also the necroscope books could provide a great horror rpg. Possibly the parallel world's from The Dark Tower books too
I actually like the universe of "Elric of Melnibone".
Additionaly the "Well World" series by Jack L. Chalker would make an excellent world though (for obvious reasons if you read the books) they would have to limit the races players could be.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
More of a campaign setting, but Midnight. Think of it as Middle Earth if Sauron won. A dark god was thrown out of heaven, and wanting to get back in, he essentially conquered the world in order to leach all the magic out of it in the hopes of gaining the power to do so. Humans are oppressed by his church, which strictly regulates all magic and magic items. Dwarves are trapped underground, and elves are nearly extinct. Both races are killed on sight. There are magical obsidian mirrors throughout the land, and they require blood sacrifices of varying frequency. Souls of the dead cannot move on, causing them to sometimes inhabit the bodies of the dead and wander, seeking flesh to devour. Finally, the land is covered with a 'veil' which prevents any cleric from communicating with their god, and vice versa.
What I like most about the setting is that it's not about winning. You can't win. Izrador's power is absolute, and he will eventually root you out and kill you. The goal is to simply do as much good, spread as much hope as possible before that happens. I think it would make a fantastic MMO if done right.
So is this an actual book you are basing this off of? If so what is it? Who wrote it?
My vote goes to Wheel of Time. I have always though that world was screaming for an MMO. And I now also feel the same about Stormlight Archives.
The company fighting to retain the rights to wheel of time multimedia are 100% unqualified and unable to get them turned into anything. Look into their recent TV pilot that was actually only aired as an advertisement.
Anyway, yes it could make for a very good MMO but I doubt anyone would give it the funding required considering how often AAA MMOs tend to under deliver.
The necroscope series. Psychic's, vampires and cold war kgb. Totally pulp reading, but frigging awesome especially when you get to starside and the gypsie settlement.
The foundation series would be interesting if done right.
Others I'd like to see are empyreon by steve lawhead, thomas covenant and iain banks culture universe.
3/5 of those I'd never even heard of, interesting. Harry Potter would of course be interesting, I'd love to get myself immersed in a well done adaption of that amazing world. I grew up listening to the books and watching the movies as well, there's a lot of us.
Hunger Games almost seems like it was written with the intent to be a great setting for an mmo lol. While I've never been a huge fan, I watch the movies just to be able to carry on conversations with all them female fans.
I'd like to see another go at Lotr, a sandbox this time not a themepark. Lotro started off well, but as time went on it suffered from horrible management and just became a cash grab with as little effort being put into it as possible.
The obvious answer is Game of Thrones, I remember hearing about an mmo in the works and then saw it became some bad browser based game no one would ever be interested in playing. I once again feel a sandbox would serve this IP much better than a themepark would, also I'm just all "themeparked" out.
Haxus Council Member 21 year MMO veteran PvP Raid Leader Lover of The Witcher & CD Projekt Red
Originally posted by itchmon The author chose well with wheel of time. I would pick a different Sanderson series.. the stormlight archive! It's going to end up with a lot more source material than the fairly short mist born books. Plus, ya know, it's awesome.
Those would be 2 of my 5.
The others, the gentleman bastards books, mentioned above. Dune, Obvobvobv. And for a twist, something victorian. Like, conan doyle.
Sweet baby jesus I loved the first 2 Stormlight books. I guess I left it off since it's still a work-in-progress and it's unclear how things will end up. I also feel like, while the lore and backstory and characters are more developed than in Mistborn, it seemed like the world of Mistborn had more untapped potential. All of those races that we just barely learned about, those other regions that were only ever talked about by name alone and never physically explored, not to mention the various different time periods there are to work with (pre-Vin, during Vin, post-Vin) so that was my thought process.
If I had included a 6th entry though, yeah, it would have been Stormlight. I can't wait for book 3!
No. Just..., no. To all of the ones mentioned in the article and in the comments.
We can discuss whether any of these would make a good RPG.
NONE would make a good MMO.
[...]
What an MMO based on these books would allow you is to run some story that is only tangentially related to the story in the books. Think SWTOR.
No..think LotR, but otherwise I mostly agree with you. I say mostly because I think the op was just talking about using the world of the book...the atmosphere and the situations that are possible there.
In the case of LotR, the dev's were handcuffed into keeping the original book's story intact, so yes what players do in the game is inconsequential and you can feel it. Yeah you may have to clean out some orcs here and there but all that really matters is Frodo and that ring.
Another problem when hamstrung to the book's original plot (and if the story of the game happens at the same time as the book's plot) is that the game has an unavoidable, inevitable end. All the players know it. Turbine has said that they plan on keeping the game going even after Frodo and Gollum destroy the ring, even after the Shire is scoured, but how many people will still be playing at that point? I won't.
If the the rights to the IP allow the dev's to create new stories that matter but within the same world, then I can see a book being used purely for it's backdrop, while the dev's are allowed to create new stories. That could work.
Comments
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
More of a campaign setting, but Midnight. Think of it as Middle Earth if Sauron won. A dark god was thrown out of heaven, and wanting to get back in, he essentially conquered the world in order to leach all the magic out of it in the hopes of gaining the power to do so. Humans are oppressed by his church, which strictly regulates all magic and magic items. Dwarves are trapped underground, and elves are nearly extinct. Both races are killed on sight. There are magical obsidian mirrors throughout the land, and they require blood sacrifices of varying frequency. Souls of the dead cannot move on, causing them to sometimes inhabit the bodies of the dead and wander, seeking flesh to devour. Finally, the land is covered with a 'veil' which prevents any cleric from communicating with their god, and vice versa.
What I like most about the setting is that it's not about winning. You can't win. Izrador's power is absolute, and he will eventually root you out and kill you. The goal is to simply do as much good, spread as much hope as possible before that happens. I think it would make a fantastic MMO if done right.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
I actually like the universe of "Elric of Melnibone".
Additionaly the "Well World" series by Jack L. Chalker would make an excellent world though (for obvious reasons if you read the books) they would have to limit the races players could be.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
So is this an actual book you are basing this off of? If so what is it? Who wrote it?
My vote goes to Wheel of Time. I have always though that world was screaming for an MMO. And I now also feel the same about Stormlight Archives.
The company fighting to retain the rights to wheel of time multimedia are 100% unqualified and unable to get them turned into anything. Look into their recent TV pilot that was actually only aired as an advertisement.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/fxx-pilot-airing-at-130-773110
Anyway, yes it could make for a very good MMO but I doubt anyone would give it the funding required considering how often AAA MMOs tend to under deliver.
The foundation series would be interesting if done right.
Others I'd like to see are empyreon by steve lawhead, thomas covenant and iain banks culture universe.
3/5 of those I'd never even heard of, interesting. Harry Potter would of course be interesting, I'd love to get myself immersed in a well done adaption of that amazing world. I grew up listening to the books and watching the movies as well, there's a lot of us.
Hunger Games almost seems like it was written with the intent to be a great setting for an mmo lol. While I've never been a huge fan, I watch the movies just to be able to carry on conversations with all them female fans.
I'd like to see another go at Lotr, a sandbox this time not a themepark. Lotro started off well, but as time went on it suffered from horrible management and just became a cash grab with as little effort being put into it as possible.
The obvious answer is Game of Thrones, I remember hearing about an mmo in the works and then saw it became some bad browser based game no one would ever be interested in playing. I once again feel a sandbox would serve this IP much better than a themepark would, also I'm just all "themeparked" out.
21 year MMO veteran
PvP Raid Leader
Lover of The Witcher & CD Projekt Red
Firefly .... Browncoats vs Alliance vs Reavers
Sandbox ofcourse
Sweet baby jesus I loved the first 2 Stormlight books. I guess I left it off since it's still a work-in-progress and it's unclear how things will end up. I also feel like, while the lore and backstory and characters are more developed than in Mistborn, it seemed like the world of Mistborn had more untapped potential. All of those races that we just barely learned about, those other regions that were only ever talked about by name alone and never physically explored, not to mention the various different time periods there are to work with (pre-Vin, during Vin, post-Vin) so that was my thought process.
If I had included a 6th entry though, yeah, it would have been Stormlight. I can't wait for book 3!
No..think LotR, but otherwise I mostly agree with you. I say mostly because I think the op was just talking about using the world of the book...the atmosphere and the situations that are possible there.
In the case of LotR, the dev's were handcuffed into keeping the original book's story intact, so yes what players do in the game is inconsequential and you can feel it. Yeah you may have to clean out some orcs here and there but all that really matters is Frodo and that ring.
Another problem when hamstrung to the book's original plot (and if the story of the game happens at the same time as the book's plot) is that the game has an unavoidable, inevitable end. All the players know it. Turbine has said that they plan on keeping the game going even after Frodo and Gollum destroy the ring, even after the Shire is scoured, but how many people will still be playing at that point? I won't.
If the the rights to the IP allow the dev's to create new stories that matter but within the same world, then I can see a book being used purely for it's backdrop, while the dev's are allowed to create new stories. That could work.
I would suggest "Night Watch" series (Sergei Lukyanenko) for an MMO.